Revolving Doors
by bootybertholdt
Summary: Forget the stupid cliché of childhood friends instantly falling in love. I'm doing this my way, baby. –SasuSaku
1. One Love, One House

_Because: Zoey is my glitter queen and I love Team Seven to pieces_

_Notes: This is my new baby that I've been working on for awhile. So far I've written three chapters, but I have the entire thing minimally planned out. But yeah, I'll try to update semi-regularly, but I promise nothing because school consumes the majority of my life._

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**Chapter 1: One Love, One House**_  
_

Sakura Haruno couldn't believe that she was in this situation. Nope, there was no way she was currently homeless—all of her possessions stored away in pink and mint bags— and staring at one of her best friends with the best puppy eyes she could make.

She wouldn't be in this position if stupid Ino hadn't decided last minute that she was actually living in her sorority house instead of sharing an apartment with her. That girl was such a whirlwind of procrastination, makeup, and pretty hair.

"Sakura-chan," Naruto turned his sunshine gaze towards the girl, blue eyes narrowed in suspicion. "What do you want?"

Sakura scoffed, "I'm offended. How do you know I even want anything? I could just want to hang out with you, you know. Get some coffee, talk about our summers. You're making me think that you don't want to be here."

"Awwww, Sakura-chan, don't be like that. Y'know I missed you! It's just you're giving me that look you use when you want something.'" He leaned back in his chair, face scrunched up in concern. "So what is it?"

Dragging her finger over the rim of her coffee cup, Sakura looked up at the blond through her eyelashes.

"So…" She drawled out, flitting her gaze back down to her drink. What the hell had she gotten herself into?

"Ino bailed on you, didn't she?"

Green eyes shot up to meet with bright blue.

"How the hell? Did someone already tell you?"

Chuckling, Naruto scratched at his head and responded, "Nah, it's just typical Ino. Y'know how she is."

Leaning across the table so that his face was close to the petite girl, the blond flashed a toothy grin. "So, I'm guessing you want to stay with me, right?"

"Well, yeah. But I know that you were going to room with some other people this year, so can I even fit?"

"Yeah, yeah! Actually Sai just recently changed his mind, so we have an open spot for you. The only problem is the other roommate…" Naruto shifted his eyes to focus on a sad excuse for an abstract coffee cup painting.

"He can't be that bad, can he? Who is it?" The sound of Sakura's voice forced the blond to return his gaze back to her. "As long as it's not Kiba. He's too dirty, and Akamaru isn't exactly clean either. Or is it someone I don't know?"

"Oh no, you definitely know him, all right." Naruto fidgeted with the napkin under his cup. "I just don't know how you'd react to living with him."

Annoyed by his refusal to name the other roommate, Sakura's gaze turned steely as she focused on him. "Who the hell is it, Naruto? Just tell me."

"Well…it's…" the blond flinched under her hostile glare. "Um… it's Sasuke."

"Oh, that's not too— wait. WHAT?!" She rocketed up, palms slamming on the polished surface beneath her and chair clattering to the ground. "When the_ hell_ did he come back?"

Putting his hands up in a conciliatory gesture, Naruto stammered out, "W-well, he just transferred to Konoha University this year, so only a couple of weeks ago. But, can you sit down? People are starting to stare."

Flipping her chair back into its proper place, Sakura flopped down into the aluminum seat and pushed her bangs out of her face. "Yeah, yeah. But what's the big deal if Sasuke-kun's the other roommate? We got along perfectly fine before he left, so it's not like we'd fight."

"I know that, but what about your crush on him and all that? Won't you be too embarrassed?"

The girl's hands paused on the edge of the porcelain cup. Oh, right. _That._ Sakura had a huge and obvious crush on Sasuke back in their middle school days. Back when things were simpler and she spent warm summer days in the presence of two boys, one as bright as the sun and the other quietly struggling under the burden of his father's expectations. At one point, Sakura had even thought that maybe— oh god, how she hoped she hadn't imagined it— Sasuke was starting to reciprocate her feelings; but then he was suffocated by the desire to be better than his brother, to be enough for his father—to not be a complete failure—, and he left.

Tucking pink strands behind her ear, the girl airily said through a forced smile, "No, there's nothing to be embarrassed about. That was years ago! We've all grown since then, and besides, I doubt Sasuke-kun would even remember a dumbass thing like that."

Staring at the girl with wary eyes, the blond downed the rest of his coffee in one gulp. Wiping his mouth with the back of his hand, he replied, "Well, if you're fine with it, then I guess that's it. We're gonna be roommates, Sakura-chan! How cool is that?"

"Ha, yeah, cool for you. You just want someone there that can clean and cook for you," she scoffed.

"Awww, don't be like that. I mean it, this year's gonna be so much fun. It'll be like middle school all over again!"

Raising her coffee up to her mouth to finish the remnants, Sakura muttered into the cup, "Let's hope not."

* * *

Lugging her last bag out of the taxi, the elfin girl carelessly pushed her hair out of her eyes and peered up at the tall apartment complex before her. Seeing a blond streak dash down the steps three at a time, she grabbed her stuff and dragged them towards the entrance. Once she plopped the heavy luggage down on the concrete, she was knocked backwards by the blond running straight into her.

"SAKURA-CHAN! THIS IS GONNA BE THE BEST!"

Removing her grinning face from the chest currently smothering her, Sakura peered up and pushed her small hands against Naruto's muscular form.

"It sure is, loser. Now grab some of these bags and help me take them up."

Scooping up the majority of the belongings into his long arms, Naruto bounded forward, slightly faltering under the heavy load.

With a sigh, the exasperated girl quickly pulled her hair into a messy bun and carried the two light bags she was left with.

"Yo, Naruto, don't go too fast. I don't know which apartment it is!" She yelled up the flights of stairs, hoping her voice would reach her boisterous friend. "And if you drop anything, I _will_ kill you!"

Reaching the third floor, Sakura walked past two doors, one with a large Christmas wreath on it despite it being August, and stopped in front of the third door on the left. Peering inside the open door, she was met with a wide assortment of items—a spatula, storage tubs, stuffed frogs—, all various shades of orange. Assuming this was her new apartment, she strolled in and set her bags down in the empty living room area.

"Where's all the furniture?"

Appearing from the hallway, the blond stuck his head around the corner and loudly responded, "Oh, it hasn't arrived yet. But it'll be cool living like this for a while. Come and see your room."

"Let me guess, it doesn't have anything in it at all."

Sakura strode into her new room and was met with exactly that, bare walls and an unobstructed view of the beige carpet.

"So," Sakura drawled out. "How exactly are we sleeping without any furniture? Or are we going to make a fort of blankets in the living room and camp in there?" She tilted her head, teasing smirk on her lips.

"I didn't even think of the blanket fort!" Naruto threw up his hands in excitement. "Remember when we made that _huge_ one in Sasuke's living room? That was the best!"

Sakura chuckled and pinched the blond's whiskered cheek.

"It was cool for when we were like ten, Naruto. But don't you think we're a bit too old for that now?"

"What? You're never too old for a blanket fort!" Naruto stubbornly whipped his head to the side.

"No, but we might have some back pain in the morning."

"Ahhh, we can handle it. We aren't that old yet, besides we do have a couch in the living room." Naruto imploringly grasped the girl's hands in his far larger ones. "C'mon Sakura-chan. Please?"

She removed her hands from his grip and playfully pushed his face away.

"Okay, okay. We'll all camp out in the living room. Just stop giving me that pitiful look."

"Heh, you know you like it!"

Ignoring his comment and trudging into the living room, Sakura allowed her eyes to scan the area until they fell on the dingy, alligator green couch hideously resting in the middle of the room.

"I call sleeping on that ugly ass thing you call a couch." Turning around towards her new roommate, the petite girl rested a hand on her hip and stuck her tongue out childishly. "So you and Sasuke-kun will just have to suck it up and sleep on the floor." She paused, eyes scanning the room. "Where is Sasuke-kun anyway? Or has he not moved in yet?"

As if summoned, soft padded steps could be heard until the quiet boy made his way down the hallway.

Sakura found herself examining every inch of the newcomer. From his dark hair, to his aristocratic—and oh so beautiful— face, down his pale and slightly sweaty neck towards his exposed and very defined chest. Wait…

The girl's face instantly flushed as she whipped her head to the side.

Naruto's face split into a wide grin as he said, "Well, there ya have it. Speak of the devil and he shall appear."

Sasuke turned to fix a glare at the blond.

"What? It's a saying." Naruto threw an arm around the pink haired girl currently trying her hardest to not look in the boys' direction. He peered at her blushing face and remarked, "Hey, you gonna say hi to your new roommate, Sakura-chan?"

Sliding her eyes over to look at her childhood crush, she took a deep breath and swung her body around so that she was facing Sasuke completely. Flashing her brightest smile, Sakura pushed down her embarrassment and chirped out a "Hey, Sasuke-kun! Long time, no see, eh?"

Why the hell was he just staring at her with those stupid—so, so pretty and dark and endless— eyes. He could at least say hi back, damn it. For being part of such a high-class family, he sure had some shitty manners.

Sasuke continued to observe the girl in front of him until he muttered, "Sakura," with a slight nod of his head and walked back down the hallway.

What the hell had she gotten herself into? Why did she ever think rooming with these two idiots would be a good idea? Living with Naruto was doable, at least he talked—at least he liked her. But Sasuke? He obviously wasn't so happy with the living arrangements; and Sakura really couldn't blame him.

This was definitely going to be the most mortifying experience of her life. And Ino—stupid, pretty, vapid, procrastinating Ino—would have a field day with this horrible situation.

Oh, kill her now.


	2. Nothing I Wouldn't Wanna Tell You About

**Notes:** Hello, hello beautiful people. So, I would like to thank the people that reviewed the last chapter; you guys all make me squeal and blush like a schoolgirl. You're the bomb. And sorry this took so long to come out. School has violently taken over my life bleh. But I hope you enjoy it (and if you want, you can totally review because it makes me happy and more motivated, yeah? ;3)

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As Sakura watched Sasuke's bare back— wow, every part of him was gorgeous—recede into the darkness of the hallway, she stuffed her face into her small hands and slumped against the wall.

Why did bad things happen to good people? It just wasn't fair. She considered herself a good person. When she was younger, she always ate her vegetables without her mom hounding on her, and she always washed behind her ears. Hell, she even volunteered at the local nursing home. Do you know how hard it is to be pleasant to old people who just complain about how soggy their cream of wheat is? It was really damn hard, okay? And Sakura just listened to their complaints with a smile on her face and a promise to get them a replacement on her lips.

This entire godforsaken situation was all her supposed-to-be best friend's fault. If Ino wouldn't have been so damn selfish and hadn't have taken the offer to live in her sorority house, they could both be happy, pretty girls in a cute and sparkly apartment living it up as the gorgeous single ladies they were. But nope, the blonde had called her up a week ago and prattled on and on about how this opportunity was so good for her, both socially and academically. Besides, she had exclaimed, I'll take you to all of the parties.

Yeah, right. At this rate, Sakura was going to rot in this apartment, void of all human contact except from her sunshine boy, Naruto. She couldn't even afford to party it up this year. Junior year was the most important time for potential medical students—stuffed with massive books and practice tests for the MCATS. So, no. She doubted she would even get more of a glance at Ino in this next semester. Stupid, stupid girl.

"Ugh, Naruto, this is literally going to be the worst." The small girl looked up from her spot on the floor to see him draping a large maroon sheet across the room.

"What?" Naruto's voice resounded from somewhere underneath the blanket. "Aw, c'mon. I know I was never as good as you or Sasuke at making forts, but I'm not that bad."

With a sigh, Sakura pushed herself off of the plush carpet and padded her way to the boy's covered form. Pushing the sheet out of the way, she ducked down and helped him tuck the corner between the wall and the bookshelf.

"It's not that you suck at making forts, which you do." Sakura shot a wink over to the blond. "But did you not see what just happened? That was so disastrous."

"What was? You and Sasuke, you mean?" Naruto threw his arms behind his head and flashed his bright smile. "I thought that was pretty good actually. C'mon, Sakura-chan. Were you honestly expecting anymore from him? It's Sasuke. He's the moodiest person I've ever met."

Sakura looked down at her turquoise-painted nails and muttered, "True, but he didn't even say hi."

"Y'know how he is. Sasuke just doesn't talk." He grasped the pink-haired girl's shoulders. "Don't worry. He'll open up after awhile. Just attack him with your super special move!"

Sakura let out a soft chuckle, "And what would that be?"

"Super Heart Beam!" The exuberant boy threw his arms up and looked down at Sakura with a determined look. "So, just keep shooting him down until he has to admit defeat. He's definitely gonna lose, since it's the two of us against one moody little boy."

Poking him in his stomach, she replied, "Okay, okay. I'll see what I can do, but let's finish this fort and then we can order some dinner, 'kay?"

"Yeah! Let's build a blanket castle to lock Sasuke in and then we can just attack him until he talks! Super Heart Beam! Pew, pew!" He raised his hands as if he were holding an invisible gun and shot off a couple of rounds.

"Hey, can we get ramen for dinner?"

Letting out a sigh, Sakura ignored the inquiry and continued draping a second sheet across the first, her mind occupied by the task of getting Sasuke to talk.

* * *

Pushing her lo mein in a circle on her plate, Sakura furrowed her brows. Why the hell was it so quiet in here? Even Naruto wasn't talking, but that might be because he was currently shoving food down his throat like he hasn't eaten in months.

Allowing her eyes to stray from Naruto's colorful appearance, they landed on the man leaned against the wall farthest from her spot on the lumpy couch. Despite years of maturation and separation, Sasuke still looked the same as he did in middle school. His face was a bit more angular now, and Sakura could see the hint of stubble on his chin, but he still had the same intensely dark eyes, constantly narrowed in an unknown emotion. His nose, although a bit longer than when he was younger, was still perfectly straight, and his thin lips were constantly pulled down by a pensive frown. No change there.

As she watched Sasuke use his chopsticks to pluck the last piece of chicken from his plate and into his mouth, she found herself wondering if his personality was as unchanged as his face. Maybe he was the same Sasuke that she knew in middle school, except now his moodiness had more of an adult tinge to it. If he was the same as he once was then he wasn't always a grumpy, disgruntled person. Back in their pre-teen days, Sasuke's bouts of sullenness were always broken up by light days of laughter and quiet enjoyment. Maybe this older Sasuke also lightened up every once and awhile; she would just have to use her "special attack" to make him lower those damn defenses he always has up.

Opening her mouth to finally cut through the thick silence, she was beat to it by Naruto.

Mouth still slightly full with half-eaten noodles and pieces of chicken, the blond turned his attention to the other man and asked loudly, "So, what have you been up to, bastard?"

Sasuke slid his expressionless eyes from his empty plate towards the loud boy in the corner and raised his eyebrow. Simply staring at his male roommate, he made no move to answer the question.

"Aw, c'mon, don't make this harder than it has to be." Naruto set his plate on the carpet beside him and sharply pointed his chopsticks towards the dark-haired boy, bits of sticky rice flying across the room. "I know you can talk, Sasuke! And we're all stuck together for a while, so you mind as well start getting friendly now. It'll save us a lot of effort and time. So, spit it out; what'd you do after you left?"

Neatly arranging his chopsticks on top of his plate, Sasuke glared at the blond. "What the hell do you think I did, idiot? I left for school, so obviously I went to school."

"Well, duh! But how was it? Did you make any new friends? Did you like it better than here?"

A long pause permeated the room until Sasuke muttered, "Why the hell do you care about this anyway?"

Sakura watched the exchange between the two boys with mild fascination. Sure, Sasuke wasn't answering with anything more than necessary, but at least he was talking a little bit. Maybe, Sakura mused, if I join in with Naruto, he'll open up a bit more.

"We care because we've missed you, Sasuke-kun. We want to know about your life in Oto. How was it?"

Sasuke turned his dark stare from the bright boy in the corner to the girl perched on the disgustingly green couch, hands nervously fiddling with her hair. When the hell had she become one of the roommates anyway? When Sasuke had agreed to rooming with Naruto, it definitely wasn't her that was supposed to be staying with them. Seeing those two together brought back too many annoying memories; it was unnecessary.

"Fine." Sasuke bit out. "It wasn't a matter of liking it or not. I needed to do it."

With the thump of his back hitting the floor, Naruto threw his hands behind his head and whined out, "Man, you're so damn boring. What the hell kind of an answer was that?" Whipping his head over to pierce the Uchiha with a stern stare, he ran his hair through his hair. "Are you trying to say that you made no friends the entire six freaking years you were there? I call bullshit on that one."

"That's not what I said, is it, idiot? Of course I spent my time with people. But the majority of it was used for studying."

Speaking over Naruto's loud groan of protest, Sakura asked, "But why? You've always been smart so it can't have been because you were failing."

A muffled "Wow, you turned into such a nerd" resounded from underneath the blond's covered face.

Shooting Naruto a glare, Sasuke let out a frustrated sigh and pushed the stray strands of his bangs from his face. "It was necessary. I needed to be as good as Itachi."

Oh, so that was it, Sakura thought. He was still living under the shadow of his genius brother. Poor Sasuke-kun had always been worried about being better than his older brother, Itachi. It literally consumed every aspect of his life. Even in middle school, his driving factor was to surpass his brother so that he could receive even a mere second of recognition from his father.

"Well, I'm glad you decided to come back to Konoha, Sasuke-kun." Sakura brightly smiled at him as she finished braiding her hair and tossed it over her shoulder. "I'm sure everyone will love seeing you again."

Pushing herself off of the dingy sofa with a low groan, Sakura collected all of the dishes and made her way to the kitchen. Placing the plates in the sink, she began to wash them and put them on the drying rack when she heard a muffled yell and then a loud smack. Peeking her head around the corner, she peered into the living room to see Naruto holding Sasuke in a tight headlock and Sasuke thrashing around trying to loosen the hold.

Flinging his foot to the side to make contact with the blond's torso, Sasuke slipped out of Naruto's grip and twisted so that he yanked his tan arm behind his back. Naruto lurched forward in an attempt to free himself, but just caused the pain in his arm to worsen and he let out a low yell.

Seeing Sakura in the entrance of the living room, he called out for help and violently wriggled his body. "C'mon, Sakura-chan! Remember what I said? Two against one!"

Shaking her head, Sakura let out a low chuckle and padded her way towards the boys. Dropping down into a crouch, she flicked the blond's forehead and remarked, "You're on your own, Naruto." Straightening back up, she dusted off her shorts and made to walk down the hallway. "I'm going to take a shower. Don't kill each other while I'm gone, 'kay?"

Slipping into the undecorated bathroom, the pink-haired girl began to shed her clothes and turned on the shower, allowing tendrils of steam to fog up the mirror. Stacking Naruto's toiletries in a neat pile, Sakura thought that maybe this whole roommate thing wouldn't be so bad. With a little prodding it seemed like Sasuke would fall right back into his dynamics with everyone he left in Konoha. He was already fighting with Naruto as if he'd never left. And maybe with a bit more of her "Super Heart Beam", he'd be just as comfortable around her as he was when they were fifteen.

But… would that actually be a good thing? Right before he left for Oto, they were at a weird crossroads in their relationship, closer than friends, but not quite more. There had been far too many awkward, blundering moments for Sakura to want to rekindle that kind of dynamic with him. She would just look stupid, especially if she was still hung up over a childhood crush that he had long forgotten.

As Sakura blindly sought out for her conditioner among the less pink and fruity smelling bottles lining the edge of the tub, she decided that nothing like that would happen. She may still be in love with Sasuke, but he definitely had no feelings for her, and that was fine. She was just glad to have him back in her life.

As long as she got to be a part of his life again, she was content. At least that's what she told herself.


	3. I Hate the Beach

Notes: Thank you to everyone who reviewed last chapter. I love you all ;3; Enjoy my griping about college life in this one! A lot of what Sakura has to deal with is what I have to suffer through as well. Bleh. Oh and you should totally google "birman cats" because they're super precious.

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The last few weeks of August flew by in a whirlwind of intense heat, last minute trips to the beach in hopes of soaking up the scorching rays of the sun, and catching up with friends who returned from exciting adventures abroad. With the last of the summer—and freedom— coming to an end, September arrived, bringing with it responsibility and textbooks weighing down book bags like rocks.

The first day of class came like a smack in the face, abruptly waking a very disgruntled Sakura from her deep sleep. In a flurry, she ran around the apartment, scarfing down her breakfast one second and putting the finishing touches on her eyeliner in the next. Seriously, waking up late on the first day? Hopefully this wasn't some new habit of hers.

Snatching her leaden bag from the revoltingly green couch—they really needed to get a new one—, she dashed out the door and decided that she would take the bus for the first day so she wouldn't have to worry about driving in all the freshmen-induced traffic. The first day of class wasn't hell on earth just because it meant hours and hours of class work and then piles of homework on top, but the irritating newness of the freshmen coupled with campus being stuffed full with teary-eyed parents made it a thousand times worse. It was like if the unbearable heat of Hell wasn't quite enough, then you were also gifted with Lucifer jabbing you in the rear with a pitchfork. _Lovely. _And this entire situation was just too much to deal with when she was already grumpy from lack of sleep.

By the time her third and last class of the day came, Sakura's mood had worsened exponentially. Her first class—pre-med physics at the ungodly hour of 9:05—finished with the teacher informing his three-hundred students that they had a quiz on the first two chapters next class, and then in her English class, she was paired with one of the most annoying guys in her year. Constantly sweaty and very needy, her partner was notorious for complaining about work, but never actually doing any of it. Needless to say, when Sakura dragged herself to her calculus class after lunch, she was just ready to head back home and curl into a crying ball on her mattress, currently on the floor because the bedposts still hadn't arrived yet.

Plopping down in the closest seat possible, Sakura dug her pink notebook out and then buried her head into her thin arms. Drawing in a deep breath, she let it out in a long, low whistle and then looked up, aware that the person next to her was staring intently.

Met with the dark eyes of her roommate, Sakura straightened, subconsciously fixing any stray strands of pink. "What are you doing here, Sasuke-kun?"

"I'm in this class," Sasuke drawled out. "As are you, I assume."

Sakura let out a low chuckle, tucking her hair behind her ear. "Yeah, I need to take a calc class for med school. I've been putting it off for a while now because I hate math so much, but I couldn't really avoid it anymore." Placing her hands on her desk, and leaning a bit closer to the Uchiha, she asked, "And what about you? What's your major?"

"My dad wants me to go into law enforcement." Sasuke's eyes darkened. "But he wants me to be a higher-up official; that's why I'm taking this dumbass class."

Casting an interested glance at the man, Sakura wanted to continue the conversation but was stopped by the slamming of the door, signaling the arrival of the teacher, a foreign man with a very strong accent. Oh, kill her now. Math was already her weakest subject, but add to that almost incomprehensible lectures, and she was done for.

The class went by painfully slow, but at least Sakura could follow the lecture on parabolas and other obscure mathematical jargon. Every so often, she would sneak a glance at Sasuke beside her to see how he was faring with the material, and she was always met with the view of his apathetic face, almost bored with the complex formulas on the board. He hadn't even taken any notes yet!

With the end of the seventy-five minute lecture—that was way too much damn math for one day—, the entire lecture hall stood in unison and filed towards the doors in the back of the room. Turning towards her roommate on her left, she cocked her hip to the side and asked, "You done for the day?"

Storing his pristine white notebook in his bag, he looked down at the petite girl. Thin lips parted to respond, "Yeah, I'm heading home now."

Falling in step with his long strides, Sakura tugged her book bag more firmly on her shoulders. "Oh, me too. But I gotta go wait at the bus stop. Hopefully it doesn't take too long."

Turning his dark eyes towards the bright girl, he observed her until he finally offered a ride, which she accepted gratefully.

Five minutes into the car ride, Sakura was thinking that maybe she should've waited for the bus after all. The pervasive silence was driving her crazy; it pressed relentlessly on her ears, and all she wanted to do was shatter it. Squirming in her seat every few moments, she finally steeled herself enough to ask Sasuke to put on some music.

Jabbing his finger out towards the controls of the radio, the man complied and put on a popular station. The sickeningly sweet lyrics of a love song reverberated in the closed interior and had Sakura singing along, very loudly and very horribly. The Uchiha attempted to block out her voice by turning the music up with a flick of the dial, but whenever the radio's volume increased, so did his roommate's. With the end of the song, Sasuke believed that she would stop, but with the opening notes of the next song starting, he realized he was very wrong. The _entire_ fifteen minutes spent in the car was filled with her flat notes and an oncoming headache.

Pulling up into a parking spot, the dark-haired man quickly shut off the radio while Sakura was scratchily crooning the ending note, effectively cutting her off midway.

"Alright, we're here."

Opening the door with a huff and glare—way to be an ass, Sasuke— and grabbing her bag, the girl climbed the steps to the third floor with renewed vigor, lightly humming a song that had been on earlier. "Thanks again for bringing me home, Sasuke-kun. I'd probably still be there if I waited for the bus."

Sasuke slightly inclined his head in acknowledgement before he unlocked the door and shouldered his way into their shared apartment.

Throwing her bag on the lumpy sofa, Sakura padded her way to the kitchen, determined to find something to satisfy her growling stomach. Standing on her toes to reach her granola bars in the highest cabinet, she knocked the box down with a swipe of her hand and caught the falling object. Peeking her head into the living room, she spotted her quiet roommate hunched beside her bag on the alligator couch.

"Hey, want one before dinner?"

Rubbing his hands over his face, Sasuke paused and looked up, examining the proffered item. "No thanks."

"Suit yourself. More for me then." The pink-haired girl flounced back into kitchen, considerably happier than she was an hour ago. Placing the box back on the shelf, she heard the front door opening, signaling the arrival of her sunshine boy.

"Hey, Naruto— what the hell is that?"

Green eyes snapped towards the white ball of fur partially hidden by Naruto's obnoxiously orange sleeves. One large tan hand came to rest on top of it in a soothing petting gesture.

"Okay, okay. So, promise you won't get mad at me."

Dark eyes snapped towards the boy in the entrance while the viridian ones already trained on him narrowed in suspicion and anger.

"I'm not promising anything until I see what you have." Sakura crossed her arm over her chest and jutted her hip out. Oh, she was pissed.

"It's not a bad thing, Sakura-chan. Chill out," Naruto pleaded. "You just can't flip your shit when you see it, okay? You'll scare her."

If Sakura were a dragon, there would be fumes of smoke emitting from her nostrils right about now. All she wanted to do was open up her wide jaws and swallow the blond whole, indifferent to his pleas for mercy. Whatever the hell he had, he better have a good explanation attached to it.

Sensing that his female roommate was about to lunge at him from across the room, Naruto quickly extended his arms until a small kitten was in full view of his roommates' prodding gazes.

In two seconds flat, Sakura's heart was captured and melted by the tiny cat perched on the boy's hands. Peering around the room with two piercing blue eyes from a black face, the kitten licked at its paw and shifted a little.

"Oh my god, that is the_ cutest_ freaking cat I've ever seen in my life." Sakura made her way over to the animal and quickly scooped it up into her arms. "Where did you get her?"

Scratching at his head, Naruto breathed a sigh of relief. At least she wasn't yelling her lungs out. "Well, there was kinda a box of kittens out in the street today as I was getting lunch. I looked in and saw this little cutie in there and she _obviously _wanted me to pick her because she was staring at me, Sakura-chan, staring at me with those big, blue eyes. I couldn't just leave her there."

The girl stopped her cooing at the kitten and looked up at Naruto, eyes hardening once again. "But are we even allowed to have animals in this place? If we get in trouble, it's gonna be your job to find a place for us to live, you know."

"Okay, okay. I'll do it." The blond plopped down on the couch and elbowed Sasuke in the ribs. "How do you like our new kitty, bastard?"

The Uchiha jerked out of Naruto's reach and threw a punch at his shoulder. "Did you even bother figuring out what type of cat she is?"

"Oh, right!" Naruto jumped up off the couch and began digging in his pockets. Grabbing a crumpled piece of paper, he smoothed it out and exclaimed, "Here it is. She's a Birman, whatever that means."

"The breed doesn't matter," Sakura cooed, propped up against the dining room table. "All that matters is that she stays this cute, and we stay out of trouble, right Naruto?"

The blond scratched at his head nervously and stammered, "O-of course, Sakura-chan. But, we won't get in trouble; trust me. She's a good little kitty."

Scooting away from Naruto's broad body, Sasuke scoffed. "Yeah, right. She's fine until she's starts yowling in the middle of the night."

"Do you have to ruin everything?" Blue eyes shot towards the man currently reclined on one lumpy cushion. "She's adorable and watch, she'll have you wrapped around her little paw in no time."

"Highly unlikely. But you might want to give your precious animal a name." The Uchiha stood up from the couch and threw a pillow at Naruto's face. "I heard it adds sentimentality."

"Ooh, I actually already have one in mind! Can we name her Ramen?"

Sakura snapped her head towards her roommate. "Definitely not. This cat is too cute to be named something so stupid."

"Okay, okay. How about Miso?"

"We're not naming her after food!" The petite girl observed the kitten, holding it at arms length. "I was thinking something cute like Shiro."

"Really, Sakura-chan? Shiro?" Naruto rolled his cerulean eyes. "That's so boring."

"Well, let's see which Sasuke-kun prefers and that'll decide it. Two against one."

"Alright! But I'm totally gonna win." Naruto confidently marched his way down the hall towards the Uchiha's room. "There's no way he can't pick Miso or Ramen."

It turns out that Sasuke _could_ turn down Miso and Ramen. With a deadpan look towards the blond, he quickly agreed with Sakura and then pushed his two roommates out of his room.

Little Shiro turned out to be a lot more work than Naruto, or even Sakura, expected. She always followed someone around, constantly meowing for food, her litter box was always dirty and desperately needed to be cleaned, and when anyone wasn't paying attention to her, she would jump up on their lap and swat at them until they did. But the worst thing about the new kitten was that Sasuke was right and she whined the entire night.

So with less sleep than desired, Sasuke, Sakura, and Naruto fell into a routine of who would take care of the cat and when. This little kitten, through her excessive neediness, made the three roommates form a dysfunctional family, with two dads, a mom, and one baby. Or maybe it was one dad, one mom, an uncle, and the baby? Regardless, at the end of the day, the three were happy to just relax at home, falling into a comforting routine.


End file.
